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'We have never done a murder mystery before so we just thought they’d gone to a lot of expense.

'It all just seemed to be part of the weekend with a policemen and a van at the gate.

'It was only when we spoke to him (the police officer) and he explained that it would be much too expensive to stage with real police cars that we realised.'

Mr Heritage, a builder from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, added: 'It is absolutely terrible what has happened as that’s someone’s daughter and son.

'Last night we still had dinner but the murder mystery didn’t take place.

'All the guests were talking over dinner about how it could have happened as it is a real life mystery.'

The hotel is situated in more than 100 acres of woodland

The couple say that guests expecting
to attend last weekend’s cancelled event have been offered a free murder
mystery at the hotel at some point in the future.

The emergency services were called to
the country house hotel in Hatfield Heath, on the border of Essex and
Hertfordshire, at 7.35pm on Saturday.

The air ambulance helicopter was summoned to the 110-acre estate, but paramedics could not resuscitate the man and woman.

Police said the pair from London checked in at the £150-a-night hotel together, but could not confirm if they were a couple.

Their
families have been informed but police refused to reveal their
identities until post-mortem examinations have been carried out.

The
ten-metre pool was open to hotel guests but was unsupervised. Another
guest said she had used the pool just 30 minutes before the bodies were
discovered.

Essex Police interviewed guests from the two wedding parties on Saturday.

Lucy
Sparks, 21, from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, was at one of the wedding
receptions when police arrived at the hotel. She said: ‘We saw two
police officers rush through reception with a member of staff. There
were about five or six police cars outside and we saw the air ambulance
land.

‘The hotel just pulled a curtain to separate us and the party still went on as normal.’

The hotel, on the Hertfordshire border, is a popular wedding venue. Jade Goody tied the knot there in 2009

Yesterday
detectives said they were not looking for anyone else in connection
with the deaths, which they are treating as ‘unexplained’.

Chief Inspector Nick Lee said his officers had found two people ‘submersed’ in the pool.

He
added: ‘Despite a valiant attempt from the hotel staff and ambulance
service, unfortunately it was not possible to revive those individuals
and they were pronounced dead at the scene.

‘Next
of kin have been informed about this tragic incident and I can tell you
at the moment Essex Police are not looking for any other people in
connection with this investigation.’ The man and woman were understood
to have been in swimwear.

A
line of investigation is likely to be whether one of them suffered
difficulties while swimming and the other drowned while attempting a
rescue, although tests may also look to establish whether toxic gases
were responsible.

Jade Goody and Jack Tweed on their wedding day at the hotel in 2009

Police have ordered toxicology tests
to check if the pair had been drinking, although a senior officer said
the tests were a routine part of the investigation.

Post-mortem examinations are expected to take place today and the coroner has been informed.

Down Hall Hotel is a popular wedding venue. It was used by Big Brother star Jade Goody when she married Jack Tweed.

The
estate dates back to 1322. The house itself is a 16th Century
Italianate mansion where a silk mill owner and a Victorian member of
Parliament once lived.

It was used as a convalescent home for wounded soldiers in the First World War and was turned into a hotel in the 1980s.

Hotel
manager Chris Falcus said: ‘We are all devastated by the tragic
incident and our thoughts are with the family and friends of those
concerned.’